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Insertion pod
The '''Orbital Insertion Pod' is a single-occupant, Covenant-manufactured, high-altitude deployment vehicle. It is roughly cylindrical/ovoid in shape, but with a tapered, slightly angular end. It is made of burnished cyan-purple metal, but has an interior that conforms to the physique of a Covenant Sangheili. Upon impact with the ground, the pod opens, revealing the interior and allowing the Sangheili inside to exit. Overview When the Covenant decide to capture a planet rather than simply glassing it from orbit, they use orbital insertion pods to drop Sangheili to the planet's surface as shock troops. Use of these pods is very hazardous, and is reserved only for critical situations, or when a surprise attack is necessary. It is theorized that the pods are coated with an energy shield to disperse heat, and are armored to withstand anti-air flak cannon fire. The vaguely pods are small and cramped, with barely enough room for one Sangheili and his weapon, and there appear to be no restraints or other devices inside. It is probable that a stasis field holds the Sangheili safely in place during impact. Upon landing, the front of the pod blows off/opens up to allow exit. Featured These pods made their first appearance in the Halo 2 E3 Demo, where Sangheili came down and openly challenged John-117 with Energy Swords. In the games, they first appear in the Halo 2 level Outskirts and subsequently were evident around New Mombasa during the Battle of Earth. They also appear in the levels Sacred Icon, Quarantine Zone, and Uprising, occupied by allies of Thel 'Vadamee.Halo 2: The Official Strategy Guide page 140 They also appear in the Halo 3 level Floodgate, sent by the Shadow of Intent to aid John-117 and Thel 'Vadam against the Flood infestation in Voi. The impact is hard enough to break the occupying Sangheili's energy shield once it hits the ground. In Halo: Reach, they appear to be more rounded and bulky than the previous versions. An even larger variant of the pod exists, which allow the deployment of multiple Covenant troops. During Long Night of Solace, while the UNSC is attacking it, the Ardent Prayer launches dozens of drop pods, which are destructible, if the player can reach them in time. However, you must use caution when trying to destroy them as they are an instant kill if they impact your Sabre. Also, the pods now have holographic displays on the inside of their door rather than it being a blank sheet of metal. In Halo 4, the individual and heavy pods are only seen in the Campaign mission Forerunner. The larger pods that drop off troops and return to orbit are seen in various missions in Spartan Ops. Trivia *In Halo 3, one may enter the pods on the level Floodgate when playing on Co-Op as the second, third, or fourth player (a Sangheili), provided the pods are not shot at all. If the player approaches one and holds the Right Bumper, he can jump into the pod, as if it were a vehicle. *The Halo 2 and Halo 3 era drop pods resemble ancient Egyptian sarcophagi; the posture of the Sangheili inside (arms crossed) resembles the posture of the mummified remains placed within Egyptian coffins. **The Halo: Reach and Halo 4 era drop pods more closely resembles the human SOEIV as it has a hatch that it jettisons upon landing rather than splitting down the middle and it is also more egg shaped than cylindrical. *The appearance of the drop pod changed dramatically from the E3 2010 demo to its launch version. In the E3 demo it appeared to be more boxy and angular, while the launch version is smoother, more detailed and is more like a wider version of the one from Halo 2. Gallery File:Reach - Drop Pod.png|An alternate design of orbital insertion pod from Halo: Reach File:OIP.png|Frontal and rear views of an orbital insertion pod in Halo: Reach. File:OIP interior.png|The interior of an orbital insertion pod. File:OIP hatch.png|The interior of the hatch of an orbital insertion pod. File:elite_drop_pod_720.jpg|''Halo: Reach'' Drop Pod concept art. File:Pod_22.jpg|An orbital insertion pod in Halo: Reach. File:50829459-Full.jpg|A SpecOps Sangheili about to emerge from his Drop Pod and fight against the Flood. File:51337064-Full.jpg|The Arbiter sitting in a drop pod. File:CovDropPod Full.jpg|A group of pods land on Earth. File:Podopenclose.jpg|An OIP when closed and when open in Halo: Reach. File:ElitePod.jpg|An Orbital Insertion Pod as seen in Halo 2. File:Halo Reach - Drop Pod.jpg|An Sangheili about to exit a pod in Halo: Reach. File:Heavy_Orbital_Insertion_Pod.png|A larger variant of the pod in Halo: Reach. File:reach_16721238_Medium.jpg|Drop Pods leave a . File:Sangheili Drop Pod Megabloks.png|The first Halo Mega Bloks Covenant drop pod released File:Sangheili Drop Pod Megabloks 2.png|In this set comes a heavy damage drop pod File:Sangheili Drop Pod Megabloks 3.png|The Mega Bloks Sangheili General Drop Pod File:Sangheili Drop Pod Megabloks 4.png|The Mega Bloks Sangheili Ultra Drop Pod File:Covenant_drop_pod_sampling.png|The evolution of the Covenant drop pod (Left to Right: Halo 2, Halo: Reach, Halo: Reach, Halo 4). File:H4-T51CovDropPod-ScanRender.png|The Type-51 Individual Breaching Carapace drop pod in Halo 4. File:H4-T53CovDropPod-ScanScreen.jpg|The Type-53 Squad Breaching Carapace drop pod in Halo 4. File:H4-T54CovDropPod-ScanRender.png|The Type-54 Mass Deployment Carapace drop pod in Halo 4. Appearances *''Halo 2'' **''Halo 2: Anniversary'' *''Halo 3'' *''Halo: Reach'' *''Halo 4'' **''Spartan Ops'' *''Halo: Spartan Assault'' Sources Related Pages *Heavy Orbital Insertion Pod *Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle (UNSC Equivalent) de:Allianz Abwurf-Kapsel Category:Covenant Vehicles